Pressure regulating device



Jan. 4, 1938. P. s. RUSSEL PRESSURE REGULATING DEVICE Filed A ril 5, 1937 INVENTOR AITGENEY Patented 4, 1938 PRESSURE REGULATING DEVICE Philip S. Russel, Detroit, Mich; assignor to Detroit L'nbrlcator Company, corporation of Michigan Detroit, Mich a Application April 5, 1237, Serial No.-135,045

10 Claims.

My invention relates generally to control'de-' vices and more particularly to fluid pressure regulating devices.

. One of the objects of my invention is to provide a new and improved fluid pressure regulating device.

Another object of my invention is to provide a fluid pressure regulating device which will be efficient in operation and yet inexpensive to manufacture.

The invention consists in the improved construction and combination of parts, to be more fully described hereinafter and the novelty of which will be particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed. In the accompanying drawing, to be taken as a part of this specification, I have fully and clearly illustrated my invention, in which drawing- The figure of the drawing is a view in longitudinal central cross section of my improved fluid pressure regulating device.

Referring to the drawing by characters of reference my fiuid'pressure regulating device includes a casing, preferably of sectional construction comprising, in general; a hollow valve body I and a cap-like housing or extension 2 rigidly connected together and cooperating to define a pressure chamber 3. The bodyi may be of general cylindrical form having an opening in what may be termed its upper end, and below the said upper end 'the body preferably has an upwardly facing, internal annular shoulder or seating surface 4. Seating on the shoulder 4 there is preferably a plate member 5 that may have one or more apertures 6 therethrough for the passage of fiuid, the purpose of the plate 5 being hereinafter described. The housing like the body I, may be of general cylindrical form and may screw thread into the open end of the body and seat at its lower open end against an outer border portion of the plate 5 to secure the parts rigidly together.

The pressure chamber 3 has an inlet 1 and an outlet 8 for fluid, the inlet 1 preferably being 3 provided through the body side wall below the plate 5, The outlet 8 is preferable defined .by an open ended tubular fitting or valve seat member 9 that preferably screw threads into a hollow boss II that may be integral with and depend from the bottom wall ofthe body I. At its lower end the fitting! may be provided with an external annular shoulder H, and areasket H may be provided and held under compression between the shoulder I l and the lower end of the hollow; boss Ill to insure a fluid tight joint therebetween. The. fitting 9 projects upwardly into the pressure chamber 3 centrally thereof, and intermediate/its ends has an internal transverse wall I2 having a flow restricting orifice l3 therethrough provided with an upwardly fac- 5 ing port and valve seat IL A reciprocal valve member it controls the port it and at its lower end preferably, has a conical face It for cooperation with the port and seat 14, the valveii being slidably received and guided in an upper 1 end portion of the fitting 9. The valve member I! preferably projects above the upper end of the fitting 9 even when seated, as shown. In the present tance, the valve 15 has flattened outer surface po ions ll longitudinally thereof so as 15 to provide passageways between the said fiattened portions l1 and the inner wall surface of the fitting 9 for the passage of fiuid from chamber 2 to the orifice l3 when the valve member I5 is unseated. g

. Disposedwithin the pressure chamber 3 above the valve l5 and plate 5 there is a pressure responsive element l9, preferably a resilient, metallic bellows. One end of the bellows I9 is secured and hermetically sealed to a movable end wall or 25 plate member 20, and its other end is secured and hermetically sealed to, a similar movable end wall or plate member 2|. The bellows I9 is arranged so that it will expand and contract substantially vertically, or in the direction of move- 30 ment of the valve i5. Secured and hermetically sealed to the bellows lower movable wall 20 there is preferably a. connecting member 22 for rigidly connecting the valve ii to the bellows movable end wall 20, the connecting member .22 extending 35 through a centrally disposed aperture 23 in the plate 5. The valve [5 preferably has an upper end portion 24 of reduced diameter that -may be threaded for screw threading into the connecting member 22. The reduced'portion 24 of the 40 valve J5 provides the valve with an upwardly facing annular shoulder 26, and rigidly held between the shoulder 2d and the underside of the connecting member 22, for movement therewith, there is an abutment member 21 in the form of a 4 washer for abutment with the underside of plate 5 to limit upward movement of the bellows lower end walls 20 and valve l5. Surrounding the valve member l5 there is a. helical coil spring 28 having its upper end abutting the underside of the washer 21, the spring 28 being under compression urging the valve l5 upward or away from its seat.

The chamber 2 has a second outlet 29 therefrom for fluid, and this outlet is preferably de- I fined by a hollow, external boss 30 which may be integral with and extend upwardly from the top wall of the housing 2. Screw threaded into the boss 30 there is a valve seat member 3| having a vertically extending bore 32 that opens through the upper end of the member 3| into the hollow boss 30, and having a counterbore 33 that opens at the lower end of member 3| into the pressure chamber 3, the bores 32 and 33 providing in the member 3| a downwardly facing port and valve seat 34. A vertically extending valve member 35 controls the outlet port 34 and is carried by the upper bellows movable wall 2|. The valve member-35 may extend within the bore 33 of the valve seat member 3| which thus serves as a guide for the valve member, and the upper end of the valve member may have a conical valve face 36 for cooperation with the outlet port 34. The bellows upper movable end wall 2| may be provided with a centrally disposed aperture therethrough for receiving the valve member 35 which may have an external annular slot in which a border portion of the wall 2| may be held to secure the parts rigidly together. The bellows I9 is maintained in its proper or desired position by the valves I and 35 and their guides or chambers which limit lateral or side movement of the bellows end walls 20 and 2| and prevent canting 1 The valve 35 preferably has a of the bellows. stem portion 31 extending centrally through the bellows l9, and carried by the stem 31 within the bellows and slightly below the bellows upper end wall 2| there is an abutment member 38 in the form of a plate having a centrally disposed aperture therethrough for receiving the stem. The abutment plate 38 seats against a downwardly facing abutment of the valve stem- 31, and surrounding the valve stem within the bellows l9 there is a helical coil spring 39 having one end abutting the abutment member or plate 38 and its other or lower end abutting the bellows lower end wall 20. The spring 39 is under compression and acts to move the opposed bellows .end walls 20 and 2| away from each other and in so doing acts to seat the valves |5and 35. Thus the spring 39 opposes opening of the valves l5 and 35 and the force exerted by the spring 39 determines the pressure that will be maintained in chamber 3. The abutment plate 38 is adapted to cant so as to equalize the force exerted by the spring 39 urging the opposite bellows end walls 20 and 2| outwardly from each other. The connecting member 22 has an upper end portion 40 that projects through an aperture in the bellows lower end wall 20, and fitting over the end portion 40 there is a cup-shaped member '4| that may be soldered or otherwise rigidly secured to the connecting member 22. The cup-shaped member 4| has an upwardly disposed end wall provided with an aperture therethrough for receiving the valve stem 31, the lower end of the valve stem being engageable with the upper bellows end wall 2| to prevent rupture of the bellows |9. At its lower end the valve stem 31 preferably has an enlarged portion or head 43 that is movable longitudinally within the cup-shaped member 4|. When the bellows unit is externally of its casing the enlarged stem portion 43 abuts the underside of the end wall of the cup-shaped member 4| to prevent the spring 39 from further expanding the bellows l9 which might otherwise injure the bellows. Centrally and longitudinally through the valve 35 andits stem 31 there is a passage or bore 44 that connects the interior of the bellows l9 and the outlet bore 32 for the discharge of air from the bellows IS on compression thereof.

The inlet 1 may be connected to a pump (not shown) adapted to pump fluid, which may be oil, into the chamber 3 at a greater rate than it can flow out of the flow restricting outlet port l4 so as to obtain a desired pressure in chamber 3. The outlet 8 may be connected to a burner (not shown), or other means to which the fluid is to be supplied, by a suitable conduit, and the outlet 29 may be connected by a return line to a reservoir tank (not shown) or source of supply of oil or other fluid. In the side wall of the valve body opposite the inlet 1, there may be provided a threaded aperture 45 for threaded connection with a suitable pressure gauge (not shown).

The operation of the herein described fluid pressure regulating device is as follows: When fluid, which may be oil, is delivered to the pressure chamber 3, the pressure in the chamber 3 will build up and when the force exerted by the fluid against the end walls of bellows l9, plus the force exerted by the spring 28, exceeds the expansive force exerted by the spring 39, then the bellows lower end wall 20 will move upward. This upward movement of wall 20 will occur by reason of spring 28 which is tending to move the bellows unit longitudinally and to hold the valve 35 against its seat 34. The valve l5carried by the end wall 20 will be pulled or moved thereby away from its seat l4, thus opening the outlet or delivery passage l3. As the pressure in chamber 3 continues to build up or increase, due to the excess capacity of the pump, the bellows 9 will be further collapsed and wall 20 carrying with it valve l5 will have further movement until the abutment member 21 engages the stop or plate member 5. The valve |5 will now be wide open and delivery from outlet 8 will be at its maximum rate of flow. The rate of supply of liquid to chamber 3 being in excess of the rate of discharge from outlet passage l3, there will be a further increase of pressure in chamber 3 but as end wall 20 is held against further movement, the pressure on the bellows l9 will now move end wall 2| inward against the force of spring 39. Inward movement of wall 2| will withdraw valve 35 from its seat 34 to release the excess fluid being delivered to chamber 3 thereby preventing further pressure increase and maintaining a desired maximum fluid pressure on the delivery or outlet passage l3. It will be noted from the above thatthe outlet or delivery port I 4 will be opened first to a wide open position and that after a predetermined fluid pressure increase the outlet port 34 will be opened and the valve 35 will throttle to maintain the desired pressure on the delivery or outlet port l4. If the rate of delivery of the pump is increased, the valve 35 will be moved further toward open position to correspondingly increase the rate of flow from port 34 whereby to prevent increase of pressure on the outlet or delivery port l4. When the pump is stopped, or when its speed is reduced such that the pressure in chamber 3, plus the pressure of spring 28, becomes less than the pressure of spring 39, the spring 39 will act to quickly close the outlet or delivery port l4.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 01' the United States is:

1. In a fluid pressure regulating device, a casing having an inlet and a pair of outlets, a valve member controlling flow from each of said outlets, a hollow body member in said casing and having movable end walls operatively engaging in said casing and having movable end walls against which fluid pressure acts, said end walls being operatively connected one to each of said valve members, said valve members being mov-' able towardopen position upon inward movement of said end walls, yieldable m'eans acting to move one of said walls inwardly, yieldable means exerting. a greater force than said first-named yieldable means and urging said walls outwardly, and stop means for limiting inward movement of said one wall.

3. In a fluid pressure regulating device, a casing having a pressure chamber having an inlet and an outlet, said chamber also having a discharge passage for flow of fluid out of said chamber to prevent fluid pressure increase therein above a. predetermined pressure, a hollow member in said casing, said hollow member having relatively movable oppositely disposed end walls, a valve controlling said outlet and movable toward open position on movement of one of said movable walls in one direction, said one wall being movable in said one direction when the fluid pressure in said chamber reaches a predetermined pressure below said first-named predetermined pressure, yieldable means acting to move said one wall in said one direction, a valve controlling said discharge passage and movable toward open position on movement of the other of said walls in one direction, yieldable means opposing movement of said walls in said directions, said yieldable means determining the fluid pressure at which said other wall will move in its said one direction and cooperating with said first-named yieldable means to determine the fluid pressure at which said one wall will move in its said one direction, and stop means for limiting movement of said one wall in its said one direction sothat said other wall can move in its said one direction to open said passage when the fluid pressure reaches said first-named predetermined pressure.

4. In a fluid pressure regulating device, a casing having a pressure chamber having an inlet and an outlet, said chamber also having a discharge passage for flow of fluid out of said chamber to prevent increase in the fluid pressure therein above a predetermined pressure, a bel lows member disposed in said chamber and having oppositely disposed relatively movable end walls against which the fluid pressure acts to move said walls inward toward each other, a-valve.

controlling said outlet and operatively connected to one of said end walls, said valve being held in an open position when the fluid pressure acting against said one wall is above a predetermined pressure, stop means for limiting inward move- .moved to open said passage on inward movement of said other wall and throttled to maintain-said first-named predetermined pressure, and spring through.

means exerting a greater force than said first named spring means and opposing movement of said one wall, said second-named spring means also opposing movement of said other wall to determine the fluid pressure at which said secondnarned valve will open said passage to flow there- 5. In a pressure regulating device, a casing having a pressure chamber having an inlet and an outlet, said chamber also having a discharge passage oppositely disposed from said outlet for flow of fluid out of said chamber to prevent increase in fluid pressure above a predetermined pressure, a bellows member disposed in said chamber and having relatively movable end walls disposed one toward said outlet and the other toward said passage, a valve carried by one of said movable walls and controlling said outlet, a valve controlling said passage and carried by the other of said movablewalls, a coil spring within said bellows member and acting to move said walls away from each other, said walls on movement away from each other moving said valves toward closed position, stop means limiting inward movement of said one wall, and a spring urging said one wall inward.

6. In a fluid pressure regulating device, a casing having a pressure "chamber having an inlet and an outlet, said chamber also having a discharge passage for flow of fluid out-of said chama predetermined pressure, means providing a closed expansible chamber in said casing and substantially surrounded by the fluid, said means including a pair of wall means movable relative to each other, a valve member carried by one of said wall means and'controlling said outlet, said valve member being in open position when the pressure in said first-named chamber is abovea predetermined pressure, yieldable means urging said one wall means in one direction, a valve member carried by said other movable wall means preventing opening of said second-named valve member at pressures below said second-named predetermined pressure.

7. In a fluid pressure regulating device, a casing having a pressure chamber having an inlet sponsive to the fluid pressure in said chamber, said bellows having end walls movable relative to each other, said chamber having an outlet passage for flow of fluid from said chamber to prevent increase in the fluid pressure therein above a predetermined desired pressure, a valve controlling said passage and actuated on movement of one of' said bellows end walls, a valve controlling said outlet and actuated on movement 01' the other of said bellows end walls, yieldable meansurging said second-named valve toward open position, stop means for limiting movement of said second-named valve in a valve opening direction, and yieldable means preventing opening of said second-named valve at pressures below a predetermined pressure and also determining the fluid pressure at'which said-firstnamed valve will open said passage.

ber to prevent increase in the fluid pressure above and an outlet, a bellows in said casing and re- 8. In a fluid pressure regulating device, a casing having a pressure chamber having an inlet and an outlet, said chamber also having an outlet passage for flow of fluid therefrom to prevent increase in the fluid pressure above a desired pressure, a bellows member in said casing and responsive to the pressure in said chamber, said bellows member having oppositely disposed walls movable relative to each other, a-valve carried by one of said walls externally oi! said bellows member and controlling said outlet, said valve being moved to open said outlet to flow therethrough upon movement of said one wall toward said other wall, stop means for limiting movement of said one wall toward said other wall, spring means urging said one wall toward said other wall, a valve carried by said other wall externally of said bellows member and controlling said outlet passage, said second-named valve being movable to open saidpassage to flow therethrough on movement of said other wall toward said one wall, a coil spring in said bellows memberurging said end walls away from each other and acting to close said valves, said spring determining the fluid pressures at which said valves will open, and an abutment member within said bellows member for one end of said spring and movable with one of said walls, said abutment member being arranged to cant so as to equalize the pressure of said spring on said walls.

9. In a fluid pressure regulating device, a casing having a pressure chamber having an inlet and an outlet, said chamber also having an outlet passage for flow of fluid out of said chamber to prevent increase in the fluid above a desired pressure, a bellows in said casing and responsive to the fluid pressure in said chamber, said he]- lows having opposite movable end walls, a valve carried by one of said walls and controlling said outlet, spring means acting to move said valve to opensaid outlet to flow therethrough, a valve carried by said other wall and controlling said' passage, and-yieldable means opposing opening of said valves, said second-named valve having a in said chamber and arranged to be substantially surrounded by fluid under pressure, said valve members being operatively connected to said responsive member, and means cooperating with the fluid pressure acting on said responsive memberto move one of said valve members prior to movement of the other of said valve members.

PHILIP s. RUSSEL. so 

